Jan Hooks, 'SNL' alum, dies at 57

Jan Hooks, a Saturday Night Live veteran, died on Thursday, Oct. 9, in New York City. She was 57.

Sources told TMZ— who first reported the news— that she had been suffering a “serious illness.”

Hooks was a cast member on the NBC classic from 1986 to 1991, and was perhaps most widely known for her character Candy Sweeney of the party-singer duo the Sweeney Sisters alongside Nora Dunn. She was also known for her several impressions, of Kathie Lee Gifford, Hillary Clinton, Sinead O’Connor, and more.

Hooks was a member of the Groundlings in Los Angeles, and went on to appear in a number of sketch comedy shows including Comedy Break and Comedy Tonight before landing SNL. After five years on the show, where she performed along the likes of Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, and Mike Myers, she joined the cast of Designing Women in 1991. Most recently, she guest-starred on 30 Rock as Jenna Maroney’s (Jane Krakowski) crass chain-smoking mother, Verna.

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